WSRE Festival of Trees gifts Grinch-themed tree to Studer Family Children's Hospital

WSRE PBS held its second Festival of Trees at the Pensacola Museum of Commerce with more than 1,500 people in attendance over Thanksgiving weekend. Trees decorated by individuals and community groups were on display and auctioned off or sold in support of the local public television station.

The elaborately decorated Grinch-themed tree by Pensacola’s Krewe of S.W.A.T. was the event highlight. Named Whoville’s Heart, the tree won the People’s Choice Award for best tree and raised $1,500 from a group of community minded donors, who in turn donated the tree to the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart.

Under the leadership of WSRE-TV Foundation board member Julie Sheppard, a group from the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, where Sheppard serves as executive vice president and chief legal counsel, and the Lean In Network Pensacola Chapter came together to purchase the tree, which was delivered by WSRE staff to the hospital.

Others who contributed to the purchase of the tree include Jodi Bell, Michelle Bowers, Carol Carlan, Shaner Crooke, Nicole Dixon, Gail Dorsey, Christina Doss, Megan Fry, Sharon Heise, Katy Hendry, Adrienne Maygarden, Hong Potomski, Tracie Sharpe, Jill Thomas, Stephanie Tillery-Rothfeder, Gillian Ward, Meredith Yeager and Beverly Zimmern.

The tree was designed by S.W.A.T. Krewe members Kate Henson and Kris Raish, who spent more than 25 hours over three days creating the whimsical display complete with the decorated tree, matching wreath, toy train and the Grinch himself.

In all, the Krewe of S.W.A.T. decorated five trees for WSRE’s annual holiday fundraiser.

Visit wsre.org for details.

Find ways to help: Pen Air Share It program members donate over $5,300 to the Santa Rosa Education Foundation

Pensacola Sonic continue partnership with Toys for Tots

Donate a toy and Pensacola’s Sonic Drive-In restaurant locations will give customers their famous tots for free. Why? The city’s group of seven drive-in restaurants recently announced their continued partnership with Toys for Tots in their mission of delivering toys and spreading joy to children and military families in the local community.

Toys for Tots is a nationwide nonprofit program from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, celebrating more than 75 years of collecting and delivering new, unwrapped toys to local families in need. In 2022, the organization’s Pensacola chapter successfully distributed 19,682 toys, which supported 11,256 children across the greater Pensacola area.

Sonic Drive-In Pensacola is providing seven drop off locations for new and unwrapped toys in Escambia County. The deadline to drop off toys is Dec. 15.

Santa Rosa County Animal Services and BISSELL Pet Foundation ‘Empty the Shelters’

Santa Rosa County Animal Services, located at 4451 Pine Forest Road in Milton, has joined the BISSELL Pet Foundation, a national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending pet homelessness, in bringing hope to shelter pets this holiday season with the “Empty the Shelters – Holiday Hope” adoption event now through Dec. 17 with reduced adoption fees of $5 per cat or dog.

BISSELL Pet Foundation’s “Empty the Shelters” event is the largest funded adoption event in the country. This lifesaving event began in 2016 with the goal of encouraging more families to choose adoption. More than 204,000 pets have found loving homes since its inception. “Empty the Shelters” is BISSELL Pet Foundation’s largest program, partnering with 730 animal welfare organizations in 49 states and Canada to reduce adoption fees.

Pet adoption is a lifetime commitment, and not just for the holidays. BISSELL Pet Foundation and SRCAS urge families to research the pet they are interested in adopting, as well as adoption requirements.

Visit bissellpetfoundation.org/empty-the-shelters and www.santarosa.fl.gov/Animals for details.

Alliance and The Wash Room step up for Currie House residents

The Wash Room, a community-focused laundromat, demonstrated its commitment to serving the needs of its residents by teaming up with Alliance to provide much-needed assistance to the Currie House residents.

Recently, as residents from Currie House visited The Wash Room to do their weekly laundry, they revealed that their washers and dryers were no longer operational, leaving them in a difficult situation. Recognizing the importance of access to clean clothes and laundry facilities, Grant Hofberger, one of the owners of The Wash Room, took action to help.

Hofberger reached out to Alliance, the supplier of washers and dryers for The Wash Room, with whom the laundromat had established a strong partnership. He shared the predicament faced by the residents of Currie House, and Alliance's Area Sales Manager Greg Reese decided to step in and lend a helping hand.

Thanks to the swift response and support from Alliance, the residents of Currie House were able to resume their laundry routine with fully functioning equipment on the very next business day. The laundromat extends its heartfelt gratitude to Alliance for being an integral part of the community that sees a need and meets a need.

Call 850-346-1232 for details.

Take part: To make a Causes submission, email giving@pnj.com.

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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Festival of Trees donates tree to Studer Family Children's Hospital